Pfizer taps Flagship-backed start-up Montai for $700 million collaboration

Pfizer is working with the Flagship Pioneering spinout Montai Therapeutics to develop small molecules as lung cancer treatments. Pfizer will pay Montai up to $700 million in up-front and milestone payments, according to Montai CEO Margo Georgiadis. The two firms have worked together for several months and expect “some really great results” by year-end, she says. Launched in 2022, Montai uses machine learning to create drugs from bioactive molecules that exist in food and traditional medicines. Flagship and Pfizer have partnered since 2023 through the venture firm’s Pioneering Medicines initiative.